Gypsy has had enough with the fluids.

famous seamus said:
Dawn I was so very saddened for you and for Gypsy. You were there for me when my Seamus was feeling good and when he was feeling badly. You gave great words of encouragement to me when you had truly lost your best friend, Chandler.

All the words in this forum are for you and Gypsy, all of us are here for you now. All you have to do is reach out, there are a lot of takers. Know that you are not alone and never will be as long as there is a sheltie breath among us.

You know Gypsy best, Gypsy knows herself through you, you are the defining moment in her life. You will make the best decision for her as you always have.

You have my most heartfelt prayers tonight as I know that you are struggling. Perhaps tomorrow will be better after you talk to the vet.

There is always a chance Dawn, I know you will take whatever that chance might be and go with it and I also know that you will allow little Gypsy her dignity and quality of life.

Love and support, for a better day,

Kate
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Kate, Thanks you so much for all the love and support you continually show me and everyone else here. You have brought me to tears once again. Hugs and love to you and all the others here who continue to be here for me.
 
Gosh it is so hard to thank all of you indiviually for your outpouring of concern, love and support Tofu, you had me in tears thank you, Calliesmom, Mally'smom,Corbinam,Tagg,Danny and everyone here thank you so much.

Thanks for all your suggestions as well. I did call the vet here and have an appointment at 2:00 and also talked to our vet in Md. who has treated her since i got her. He suggested trying a gentle Leader which I will get today but also said if her numbers are getting higher than 92 it may be time to start thinking of letting her go since it is getting tough on her. He knows her entire case and everything she has been through since day one. He also said stopping allergy shot is a catch 22, stop that and more outbreaks added to the kidney issues so I will call her Dermatologist as well.

Thanks for the suggestion of the iv. I have read of using ports on kidney dogs at k9kidneys and had decided in the past not to choose that option because of Gypsy's history with Staph infection. I will talk to the vet today and see if I should reconsider that option.

Thank you all so much you really touch my heart and please know we will do all we can to give Gypsy the dignity and compassion she deserves at this time in her life.
 
Dawn, this issue is a heartbreaker for me as we struggled with kidney disease in our first Sheltie, Skye. It was miserable and gut wrenching. I feel so bad for you and Gypsy from a deep well of understanding. You know your dog best. It's SO HARD when you need to do something uncomfortable to them for their care in the long run.

Go with your gut. You will know when she's had enough.

I am very, very sorry. Please give Gypsy a hug from me.
 
dawns2shelties said:
As many of you here know Gypsy has Kidney Disease and we have been giving her Sub Q Fluids since May 2011, 9 mos. now. Stan and I always sit her down, me in front giving her treats, Stan does the fluids from behind her. We have always said what a trooper she has been letting us do this and give her allergy shots with no problem. About a week ago she snapped at Stan while doing fluids but I was able to calm her, yesterday she went to bite him when we were about to give her the allergy shot so we decided to wait until today to give that to her. We gave her the allergy shot no problem but as soon as we were about to do the fluids she turned and continued to snap at him and me when I tried to calm her. She almost got his face a few times so I told him not to do it.

I burst into tears after kowing her Kidneys are sure to fail quickly now. Last test 3 weeks ago her protein level was 92 so I know and realize she can't go on much longer especially with out her fluids. Stan and I talked and I am not going to muzzle her to do this because she would still be thrashing around and fighting us. It just doesn't seem fair to put her through all of that. The sadder part is she is still a normally happy girl. She doesn't run around and play like a healthy Sheltie would but She is happy to be by my side all day and take a short trip around the yard to discover all the new scents here or sniff the air as I take her for her rides through the neighborhood in her stroller. You should see the smile on her face when I tell her it's time to go for a ride.

I am going to call her new vet in the morning and see if he has any suggestions but I don't see what more I can do for her and I feel it is selfish of me to fight her to do this. We'll take it day by day if we can't get the fluids in her and pray we have her a bit longer.

I am not ready to lose my Girl, I do know that.
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I am sooooooo sorry, i am crying just ready how much pain you all are in. I can only hope and pray for you that the right thing will happen for all of you. My thoughs and prayers are with you.
 
Dawn you are in my thoughts and prayers. You are one of the sweetest women on our forum and always offer your support. Hugs to you, your husband and dear Gypsy. I know this is so difficult, but we are all with you and holding you up.
 
Reading the posts to see how Gypsy is today...Dawn, my thoughts are with you. You have been such a GOOD friend to me and I'm so, so, very sorry you're having to deal with this again......GOD BLESS YOU!! (((((HUGS)))))
 
Dawn, I am so sorry. Please know that I am praying for you and your family. You'll know what to do when the time is right. It won't hurt any less, but you'll have the knowledge that you did your best for her.
 
We just got back from the vet and I am going to start by saying we have only been to this Veteranary Hospital one other time which was 4 weeks ago due to our recent move. I saw Dr. Bruce who recommended we increase her fluids at that time, add pepcid ac and come back in 4 weeks to recheck her Kidneys.

Today when I called he was on Vaca so I had to see another Vet there which I think may have caused a bit of confusion as to why I was there. They all seemed to think I was only there to do her Kidney test follow up. A woman comes in introduces herself I try to give her an explanation of Gypsy's History she says ok scoops Gypsy up and says I'll go get her test done and off she goes. I now realize this must not be the vet and she is a tech just getting some info for the vet. I decide to go to the front desk and ask the girl to please give her fluids while she is back there so they don't have to take her back twice.

So the vet comes in when they bring Gypsy back I tell her the whole history and she doesn't seem too concerned but says well her BUN has gone up to 100 now and you seem to be doing everything right so I would continue what you are doing. What? She is at 100 and you are not concerned I am thinking, I am in a panic now. So I ask what is her Creatinine? They didn't test that only the BUN because that is what Dr Bruce noted the previous month he wanted to retest. I never realized they would only test one and not do the whole Kidney panel, my mistake. I explained how uncomfortable Gypsy seems to be recently, but she really had no further suggestions, I asked about a port but as I suspected that could just lead to major complications with her skin issues, she wouldn't stop the allergy shots because they we may end up having to treat with prednisone which isn't an option and we can't treat her for pain if this is an issue due to the Kidney disease.

I left feeling a little bewildered like maybe I am panicing over nothing and didn't feel like my concerns were heard. I talked to Stan about it when we got home and it hit me that she probably doesn't really want to offer too many opinions on this since Gypsy is really concidered Dr Bruce's patient. I came home with a container to get a urine sample and will drop that off when I am successful. I seem to have lost my touch with the soup laddle and have missed the last several times I have tried.

The petstore was closed so I will get a gentle leader and try that tomorrow when we do fluids, wait and see what her urine test results show when I get that accomplished and take her in for a full Kidney panel when Dr Bruce returns. In the mean time I will just keep her as comfy as I can and keep detailed notes on her food and water intake and anything unusual I may notice during this time.

Stan is going out of town next week and I don't like to do the fluids myself so I scheduled for one of their vet techs to come do it for me. Yes they make house calls isn't that great!

So basically I am just as worried and concerned as I was before I went and will just have to take it day by day and do the best I can for my girl and try not to stress too much. Yeah right.

Thanks again to everyone of you for being here for us. You and all your pups mean so much to us and I know you care for Gypsy as well. Hugs.

Did I mention we met a cute Sheltie Sadie as soon as we walked in the vets. I have met more Shelties since moving here than I did in all the years I lived in Md. I gave them the forum address so hopefully they will take a peak and join.
 
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